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May marks graduation season at Syracuse University. Caps fly in the air and students embark on their life journeys after college.

Just in time for graduation, The Daily Orange spoke with six upcoming SU graduates, highlighting their contributions to campus and beyond over the past four years.

Amaya Saintal, majoring in social work and policy studies

Amaya Saintal’s interest in social work and policy studies began when she was in the culinary department at a vocational school in Newark, New Jersey. Saintal was part of a farm-to-table cohort in high school, and she wondered why there were no fresh food markets in her town.

Now at SU, Saintal is the president of the Haitian American Student Association. One of their pillars is community, which Saintal said helped her learn the importance of being an active community member. Saintal has previously volunteered at Syracuse’s United University Methodist Church and the Bill & Sandra Pomeroy Treatment Center at Crouse Center, helping people without housing or food and people struggling with mental health or drug addiction.

Saintal also interned at two local Syracuse high schools, the Public Service Leadership Academy at Fowler High School and Henninger High School. Saintal, who viewed the internship as more of a mentorship to the students, said she saw the impact she made on students at Henninger when students shared their goals.

“There was a wall that fell that day, like the goals that they were sharing, even if it was as small as saving up money for a dirt bike, but watching them work through SMART goals and have more confidence in themselves with goal setting truly made my day,” Saintal said.

During Saintal’s freshman year, she thought about transferring to Boston University, but SU’s supportive community pushed her to stay. Now, Saintal has won the 44 Stars Excellence in Student Leadership: Senior Spotlight award. Staying at SU was the best decision she’s ever made, Saintal said.

After graduation, Saintal plans to earn her master’s degree in social work at the University of Pennsylvania.

Luke Radel, majoring in broadcast and digital journalism and political science

Luke Radel, a native of New Hartford, New York, has always been interested in journalism. Instead of reaching for baby books, he reached for the newspaper, and some of his earliest memories are watching Tim Russert on “Meet the Press” with his dad.

“You can dig up the preschool yearbook. I wanted to be the president, but that’s not really the kind of job that you can do right out of college, constitutionally speaking, so I knew there was going to have to be some sort of in between step to get there,” Radel said.

At SU, Radel’s political journalism career blossomed. He helped organize a mayoral debate last fall, and he’s covered high-profile politicians, including former President Joe Biden three times, he said.

Radel said he’s grateful to be able to ask questions of people in positions of power. He tries to advocate on behalf of the SU student body when he can, Radel said.

“I push pretty hard toward putting out the best work possible, and the reason I do that is because I understand I think in a unique way, though not entirely singular to me, how precious and valuable the time is that we have here at Syracuse,” Radel said.

From Sept. 1, 2021, through Feb. 4, 2022, Radel underwent chemotherapy at the Upstate Cancer Center near campus. Now, years after his treatment, Radel said he always waves to the folks there when he passes the building.

After graduation, Radel plans to continue his career as a political journalist in Washington, D.C.

Hannah Thibodeau, majoring in public policy and citizenship & civic engagement

Hannah Thibodeau found out about OttoTHON at the fall involvement fair during her freshman year at SU. OttoTHON, the largest student-run philanthropic organization on SU’s campus, supports Upstate Golisano Children’s Hospital and Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals.

Thibodeau said OttoTHON allowed her to find people that had similar values as her. But, OttoTHON also lets students be part of something bigger than themselves.

“I have known a few kids back at home that have battled pediatric illnesses, and so the opportunity to help to continue to support pediatric care from afar, and to continue to help more kids feel like they’re not just kids that’ve spent their life in the hospital is definitely the root of why I really wanted to get involved,” Thibodeau said.

Thibodeau served on the executive board of OttoTHON and was the executive director her senior year, one of her proudest accomplishments at SU, she said. This year, OttoTHON raised more than $100,000 for Upstate Golisano Children’s Hospital.

When the executive board and first-year students had the opportunity to explore the hospital, they saw that part of this year’s funds went to a food pantry designated for families that have kids being treated in the hospital. Thibodeau said the hospital initially thought they’d receive $10,000 in funding toward the food pantry, but it was actually $35,000.

After graduation, Thibodeau plans to return to her home state of Minnesota where she’ll be working as a call time manager on a reelection congressional campaign for this year’s midterms. Then, she hopes to move to Washington, D.C., to stay in the political policy realm.

Kate McKenna, majoring in advertising

Hailing from Bethlehem, New York, Kate McKenna became a general member of University Union during her first semester at SU. That spring, she joined UU’s social media team and OttoTHON as part of its first-year leadership program. McKenna always knew she wanted to be involved in an organization like OttoTHON.

“Coming to Syracuse and getting to make that impact on campus was so important to me, especially because it’s happening right down the road. The hospital is literally right next to campus,” McKenna said.

During her sophomore year, McKenna served as the morale chair for OttoTHON, where she choreographed dances for the songs at its main event. McKenna was also the collaborations director for UU, planning events like Block Party Soundcheck and Jamboree before Juice Jam. The next year, McKenna maintained her UU role and became an OttoTHON partnership chair, helping reel in corporate sponsorships for the event.

McKenna stepped away from OttoTHON during her senior year because of her responsibilities as president of UU. Even with budget cuts, she led the entire organization and planned events for students.

“When I work these events, I see the impact that it has on students when I talk to them, and it means so much to me that I get to bring accessible entertainment experiences to the student body.”

Through OttoTHON and UU, McKenna said she’s met some of her best friends. After graduation, she’s moving in September to work for an advertising agency in New York City.

Kendall Palazzi, majoring in public relations and marketing

On Sept. 13, 2023, SU’s chapter of IfYoureReadingThis was officially launched, spearheaded by then-sophomore Kendall Palazzi. IfYoureReadingThis is a mental health nonprofit that encourages students to share personal experiences or struggles by writing letters and connecting with campus community members.

Palazzi, who’s from Mountain Lakes, New Jersey, said her best friend’s older sister started a chapter of IfYoureReadingThis at Villanova University, and she followed the chapter throughout high school. Palazzi’s interest in mental health initiatives and her own experiences struggling with anxiety growing up inspired her to start SU’s chapter.

“I realized at some point in my life that (anxiety) is just something that I live with, and how can I embrace it, and how can I build a community around me full of people that also feel that way and have experienced these feelings and mental illnesses,” Palazzi said.

Because social media can be a toxic place, Palazzi loves that IfYoureReadingThis is an online platform that pushes positivity and content that resonates with people, she said. Although Palazzi started the chapter at SU to help others, she said it kept her at peace among school and social life stress and helped her grow into who she is today. After graduating, Palazzi plans to work in New York City at a healthcare public relations agency.

Nathan Brekke, majoring in computer science

Growing up in Puget Sound, Washington, Nathan Brekke spent a lot of time on boats with his family. His uncle’s life jacket inspired an invention that has won thousands of dollars: “Phloat.”

“My uncle has this life jacket that’s super thin, and they have a (carbon dioxide) canister on them. If you fall in the water, the canister goes off and inflates the life jacket instantly,” Brekke said. “I thought, ‘What if we could apply that to a phone?’”

Though Brekke has never dropped his phone in the water, he said that was a fear of his as a kid.

Before Brekke came up with the idea for Phloat — a phone case that deploys an inflatable device when dropped into deep water — he walked onto Syracuse’s men’s rowing team as a freshman. After stepping away from rowing following one season, Brekke described his sophomore year as “freshman year 2.0.”

That summer, Brekke participated in Invent@SU, a six-week program that pushed his team to develop a prototype Phloat. The phone case won first place at Invent@SU, earning the team $1,500.

Since then, in collaboration with SU senior Joshua Varkey, Phloat earned second place at the Whitman School of Management’s 2026 Panasci Business Plan Competition and second place in the products and hardware category at the New York Business Plan Competition.

After graduating, Brekke will pursue a master’s degree in business administration, with hopes of officially launching Phloat in the next few months.

Published on May 5, 2026 at 2:20 am
Contact Joel: jdpelach@syr.edu